Yesterday, Disneyland Resort announced that it will not be reopening its theme parks on July 17 as it had initially proposed. The resort was slated to reopen sixty-five years to the date after the historic opening of Disneyland Park, but due to rising COVID-19 cases (and government regulations) it had to postpone the reopening to an undefined date. Now, the California Governor, Gavin Newsom, has publicly commended the company for their decision to hold off on the reopening.
In a statement issued by CNN’s Natasha Chen, the governor cited that “This is an example of the data informing the decision making, and that is exactly what we need to be doing moving forward.”
The State of California has now indicated that it will not issue theme park reopening guidelines until sometime after July 4. Given the time required for Disney to bring thousands of Cast Members back to work and restart its theme park business, they had no choice but to delay the reopening of the theme parks and resort hotels until further approval is received from government officials.
This announcement comes after numerous petitions from Cast Members to hold off on the reopening. Work conditions for Disneyland Cast Members recalled to their positions were recently established and released.
Meanwhile at Walt Disney World Resort, the reopening is slated to still be “on schedule” for the upcoming previews, and the grand reopening beginning its first phase on July 11. County officials have stated that the decision to possibly postpone their reopening is completely up to Disney, and the state government. Given that their plans have already been approved, it’s unlikely that they will backtrack on their announcement.
So the state government refuses to issue theme park guidance and then commends Disney for making a decision they had no other choice in because the government didn’t issue the guidance to allow them to open?